normal day
He could just fly right into the room, but risk his parents being there and killing him and cujo? No thanks.
He wasn't allowed in the lab as Danny Fenton, turns out stark is a believer that "kids don't belong around dangerous potentially lethal equipment."
Honestly Danny just wished his parents followed that rule before he died to said dangerous equipment.
He held Cujo safe under his hoodie, forming a large lump that looked totally not suspicious.
The doors to Stark tower slid open, with the adults busy with work in the lobby all he had to do was keep his head low, rushing into the elevator and pressing the lab button so many times it's a miracle the whole thing didn't just break right there.
It was 9:30 at night, so a little past his curfew, but the floor seemed empty stepping out into the tower kitchen.
Cujo squirmed, Danny wrapping his arms around him aggressively shushing the pup.
"Hey Danny" Jaz stood in the archway, wearing pajama bottoms and a tank top with her hair tied up into a bun with strands falling back down her face.
"What have you been doing all day-?"
"H-hey!" he desperately tried to get cujo under control, the lump giving him away with a loud bark,
"Just- hanging out with a friend!"
"Danny-?"
"It's not what you think-!"
"Danny!" she crossed her arms walking closer and grabbing the collar of his hood, peering down and greeted by the soft green glowing ghost dog.
she jumped back nearly hitting her hip against the kitchen island counter, Danny taking his hood off with cujos nose peaking up by his chin.
Danny tried thinking of a good excuse, some sort of cover up story. Unfortunately he could only think of a bad one.
"How'd that get there..?" he tried covering his voice crack with a smile.
"Danny where did you find a ghost dog!? Mom and dad are gonna kill you!"
"No!" if he was phantom then yeah, they definitely would.
"They're gonna kill him! Please just help me get cujo to the portal I swear I'll give you my desert for two- three weeks!"
"Cujo? You named him?"
"Of course I did! He's a cutie patootie look at him!" he lifted his hoodie holding cujo under the arms in front of her face, he tried licking Jasmine's face with a wagging tail.
She stood silent for a minute, just looking at him with absolute disappointment. Maybe just in herself for falling for it.
"He is cute.."
"Just help me! He'll go back in the portal like he was never even here! No plasma spilled!"
"This is a horrible idea, if mom or dad-"
"I know." he moved cujo closer to him, looking down at his feet with furrowed eyebrows.
He knew better than anyone what mom and dad would do.
They say they 'd tear him apart molecule by molecule, experimenting on him for the rest of his life.. Er.. Afterlife. The same applies to cujo.
Jaz gave him a sympathetic gaze, her eyes soft as she yawned looking at the door of the lab.
"Four weeks."
"Huh?" Danny looked back up with a new found gratefulness.
"I want your desert for four weeks Danny. No cutting out on me." she smiled gently, teasing him as he got excited.
"Yes! Thank you! Your the best sister I have!" he hugged her, squishing cujo in between them.
"I'm your only.." she smiled softly hugging him back. "You know what I'll take what I can get, let's get this little guy through the portal."
The three poked their heads through the door of the lab, their parents working at a table full of electronics the turned off portal and the turned on tv behind them for background sound like they normally did.
The news women spoke, late at night wondering the lit up subway system with people standing waiting for the train around her.
"As of recently, the new York 'rat problem' has seemed to stagnant significantly, leaving the city the most rodent free in almost a decade." She reported
mom made a comment about how nice that was, especially for her since she had a fear of rodents.
Jaz pulled him back shutting the door quietly.
"Okay, you know how to turn the portal on better than I do, so I'll cause a distraction and get them to leave while you get him home."
Danny nodded, pushing out and hiding behind a sofa listening to the door swing open as Jaz put her plan to action.
"Mom, dad..."
"Jasmine, great timing! Could you hand me that-"
"Not now! I need you guys downstairs really quickly!"
Her parents sat in confusion, their voices worried as dad spoke,
"Is there a problem Jazzy-?"
"My uh school project.. I need you guys to um.. I need to interview you for a project I'm doing on... Parenting?"
"Well can't it wait just until tomorrow? These ghost weapons aren't gonna make themselves" mom giggled cheerfully, Jasmine grabbing their hands and pulling up out their chairs and out of the room, winking as she past Danny.
"Nope! It's actually due tomorrow- you know me! I'm such a procrastinator!"
The voices cut out after the door was shut, Danny slipping into the lab like a teenage ninja finally letting cujo out of his hood.
Seeing the portal even turned off scared the dog enough into loud whimpers, rushing to hide behind his owners leg, tail between his legs with downturned ears.
"Cujo?"
Danny walked to the power button with cujo staying in place, hesitant of what he might be so afraid of.
His parents weren't around anymore, they were downstairs out of sight and not able to hurt them from there
Yet the second he reached for that green button cujo lunged, taking hold of his pant leg pulling him back, or at least trying to.
When his plan failed cujo grew, his back crashing into the ceiling, the light above them flickering and swinging as Danny let out a loud yelp.
Cujo held a ferm bite onto Danny's hood pulling him away like he was playing tug of war with a rope, he fell onto his ass and began to panic.
"Cujo! No! Let go-! Down boy!"
Anything he said didn't get him to stop, he only returned to his smaller size when Danny was far enough away from the portal button.
He hears the shouts of Jasmine outside the door,
"I'm sure that noise wasn't anything! I'm sure you don't have to go back to the lab!"
His jaz warned their parents were coming back, and out of his panic he grabbed cujo stuffing him back into his hoodie and unlocked the window.
He swung his legs over, the door creaking open behind him as he shut his eyes and jumped, falling until he turned back into his ghost half catching himself before he hit the ground.
Looking down at cujo still shaking a little in his arms he didn't know what to feel.
Was cujo scared of something? Oh just stubborn and not wanting to leave?
They almost got caught, they could have gotten hurt, he just thought of everything that could have gone wrong.
He didn't know where to go other than home, arriving on the steps and turning human again, running a hand through his black hair setting cujo down and pulling out his phone to text Jasmine.
Dan
I couldn't send cujo back
He's scared of something
I just took him home
Soon three dots appeared on her end, jumping in a rythm one after the other.
Jaz
What do you mean he's scared?
Of the portal?
Dan
Ik its weird
Idk what's going on but mom and dad are barely home so I just assumed he could stay for a bit??
Jaz
I'm not taking care of him, I have clubs after school
And he better not ruin furniture
Dan
Ill take care of him it's fine
Jaz
You said that about Bob and now where is he
Dan
LEAVE BOB OUT OF THIS
HE WAS A FISH THEY DON'T LIVE LONG ANYWAY
Jaz
Your stupid
Dan
You smell
Danny sighed, opening the door and gently nudging cujo inside, they both climbed up the stairs as Danny tossed his bag onto the floor and collapsed onto his bed.
"Things just aren't making sense recently, huh?" He mumbled on his stomach, looking over at cujo who already took it upon himself to start eating his socks.
He reached in his back pocket, pulling his phone out once more to find a missing call and one text.
Sam
Answer loser
He answered the call, Sam was in her bathroom giving herself an eyebrow slit against the will of her parents, Tucker joined in seconds after and immediately Danny got up starting to rant.
Placing his phone facing him on his desk as he paced the room explaining the confusing day he had, asking every question.
Sam had to shout to get him out of it, Tucker spoke while drawing in a sketch pad as his desk.
"What's so bad about adopting cujo? You said your parents are never home anyway, you could throw a ghost house party if you wanted."
Sam's voice echoed in her huge bathroom, leaning against the sink with a razor to her forehead using her other hand to keep her bangs out of her face.
"Why don't you go into the ghost zone and find out?" the razor turned on with a buzzing sound as she turned it and gently shaved the slit.
"Id have to wait for my parents to leave- and even if they did it wouldn't be for a long enough time to get even 3 feet from the portal!"
"Boom! Take that mom!" Sam shouted showing her two matching slits, smiling evilly with a mischievous laugh.
"Weird," Tucker looked up admiring it, "suits you! Your parents are totally gonna ground you though."
"Dope," Danny sat on his bed laying back, cujo jumping next to him curling up by his leg.
"I know its awesome, and I have a back up plan if they do ground me." she crossed her arms confident, her face still lit up with that evil look.
"I'm giving myself a nose piercing next" she shrugged,
"Dude I want one!" Danny complained laughing to himself, "you'd totally rock it though, do it."
Tucker flipped his sketch pad around, "do these look neat?" he asked.
Turns out it was science notes, not doodles.
Which totally reminded Danny.
"Aw dude! I have a science test tomorrow! God damn it! What are you learning- can I steal your notes!?"
Tuck laughed, "I guarantee you we aren't learning the same thing, you're just gonna have to raw dog it." he shrugged as Sam cringed flopping on her bed.
"Please never say 'raw dog it' ever again."
Cujo lifted his head hearing 'dog' through the phone.
Getting up he walked around Danny's phone pushing into frame looking around interested, his tongue flopping on Danny's head.
"Cujo!" Sam called out cooing at him like a baby,
"Dude get your tongue outta my face! I saw you licking a dead raccoon earlier-!" he used his blanket as a towel before covering cujo who just flailed around underneath.
The call went on, Danny taking .05 pictures of cujo, Tucker insisting he could do a backflip only to fail miserably.
They often ended calls by just falling asleep, everyone laying in bed in silence (besides Tucker snoring incredibly loudly) sleeping on call as if they were all still in Amity together.
Danny stayed awake almost all night, on his back staring at the ceiling full of glow in the dark stars, cujo sleeping snoring gently on his stomach.
His mind raced asking himself over and over every question he had, racking his brain on anything that could be an answer.
The sun came up faster than expected, he only got about an hour of sleep in the end.
After the fashion show of Sam's well put together outfit, Tucker's same old sweater and hat and Danny's dirty shirt and ripped jeans everyone hung up saying final goodbyes.
Jaz grabbed him the minute he opened the door, before he even put his bag on, and brought him downstairs and they went out walking to the subway like normal.
They walked into school, like normal.
And Danny started his day, like normal.
He pushed through the gym doors with other teens gathering around, walking into their respective locker rooms.
Danny nervously walked into the men's, in Illinois he was forced to use the women's since he transitioned in the middle of the year.
He found an empty locker to shove his stuff into and sat on the bench ignoring the stares of other boys who chatted around him.
He felt at ease hearing a familiar voice call out next to him.
"Hey man," Peter dropped a bag down on the bench next to him full of gym clothes.
Danny stood up, his anxiety just melting now that he found a friend.
Peter opened his bag pulling out a clean gym shirt and a sports bra, pulling his arms into the sleeves of his shirt to take off a binder to Danny's surprise.
He fully thought Peter was cis, even getting dysphoria around him.
He saw the bra and got confused, then it all make sense watching him slip it on under his shirt, his chest noticeably bigger without the binder.
Danny opened his mouth to say something, his jaw dropping wide open as he froze watching his friend.
He took his shirt off for half a second to put on his gym shirt, and he was fucking jacked.
Dannys eyes were glued in confusion as he just stuttered, Peter hid his abs and rounded arms once more as he turned, his face turning a little pink.
"Oh- uh the tower has a gym.. Mr Stark let's me use it sometimes.."
He sounded so casual, even the other actual athletes in the room seemed normal about it.
Peter told him he didn't do any sports, in fact he did the opposite, he was a percussionist in band for a while and on the decathlon team. (He quit by now)
He meant to act chill about it, only blurting out something he immediately regretted.
"Sometimes!? Dude youlook like Thor!"
His friend let out a dorky laugh like always, "I wouldn't say that.."
The guy was always humble, even in the lab when he built all these amazing things, helping Danny with math homework getting every question right, it was always "it's nothing" or "anyone could do it."
"Oh- there's stalls in the bathroom if you wanna change there," he pointed to the back room.
Danny shrugged it off, pulling out his gym shirt and taking his off his own binder covering his chest.
After swapping shirts he noticed Peters worried face,
"You really shouldn't run in a binder," he mumbled concerned.
Danny once again shrugged it off, he always did PE in it.
"I know but it doesn't really do anything to me-"
"Your gonna break your ribs dude, I have an extra sports bra you can use." he pulled it out practically shoving it in Danny's hands.
"Uh thanks?"
He put it on a little embarrassed, the bell rang as everyone crowded through the doors to the gym.
Dodge balls sat on the floor in a line splitting the gym half and half as he listened to kids complain and others (mostly the athletes) get excited.
Danny was on the complaining side, Peter listened to his groan picking up a ball and tossing it up a little catching it.
"Im gonna die," as if he didn't already.
"It's not that bad, as long as you don't get targeted you should be cool." he shrugged trying to cheer him up.
The whistle blew and Peter let out a small wince covering his ears, barely noticeable if Danny wasn't standing right next to him.
The game started and everyone started throwing and dodging like their life depended on it, shouting at the other team.
Some people even quartinated attacks, fake out throws and throwing the ball at feet instead of torsos.
And of course Danny got targeted immediately, Peter also got targeted by some guy on the other team teasing him but he dodged anything flying at him with ease.
Weirdly, it was like he could tell where the ball would hit before it was even thrown.
Eventually it was just the two of them against an almost full team of people, their own team all sitting out on the sidelines watching the whole thing go down.
Peter ducked and picked up a ball, he had a serious expression aiming directly at the enemy on the other team.
Danny cheered for him words of encouragement, dodging another ball flying past as Peter put his foot down ready to throw.
His arm raised back and up, taking a professional stance that made Danny gasp, the guy teasing him actually braced himself for a moment.
Letting go of the ball the wind around it was so fast it made a noise for a moment, everyone on the team turned to them to cheer until the whole gym went silent not even a second later.
The ball hit the floor two feet in front of him, bouncing directly up and hitting him on his own head before rolling right at the feet of Flash, who silently and awkwardly picked it up.
He fucking missed
Peter just stood there, the ball hitting his chest as Flash barely put any effort into his throw.
Once again the ball rolled away, Peter continued to stand there until he spoke seemingly unbothered.
"Darn, guess I'm out, huh?"
"Are you kidding me!?" Danny shouted nearly in tears as he was the last one left, watching his friend leave the court to go sit down on his bench of betrayal.
He felt the ball Flash picked up once again hit his shoulder, and he fell to the floor in defeat listening to his enemy's laughter.
After another embarrassing round of Dodgeball, the day seemed to pause at lunch.
Danny held his tray looking around, he normally left the cafeteria to eat in the library but ever since the day after he and Peter hung out he'd been sitting with him and his friends.
It was awkward at first, the curly haired girl MJ would squint at him (she had an insane amount of knowledge on how to hide a body so she might have been plotting his double death.)
Ned was chill, he often brought cards to the table and they would play go fish until a teacher got them in trouble for "gambling."
He sat down and started eating, Ned was in the middle of showing Peter a card trick.
"Is this your card?" he confidently held up a queen of hearts as Peter smiled widely in amazement.
"It's not, but I'm still impressed!"
Mj snorted, then she turned to Danny.
"Bro, how are you actually eating that-?"
"It's really not that bad."
Peter held back a smile, "it's literally prison slop and you eat it like a starved dog."
"It's not that bad!" he shoved another spoonful of prison slop into his mouth, "it's way better than the shit they had in Amity"
"Another reason we should blow up Illinois," MJ said with complete seriousness.
Danny played with his food, "I'm like 99% sure the meat there was human,"
That wasn't as much as a joke as he said it to be, the lunch lady ghost he often fought had an unknown death and it totally wouldn't surprise him if she fell into a meat grinder or something.
"I'd honestly eat a human if someone gave me like twenty bucks for it." Ned smiled.
"Twenty bucks? That's it?" Peter laughed "Id do it for at least thirty."
"I did it for free." MJ said, Peter laughed at her
"If anyone of us were to eat someone it would be you."
The end of the day came quick, after totally failing a science test he forgot about again the group met up to walk home together.
MJ, Ned, and Peter all chatted together like normal, Danny listened feeling to awkward to join in.
Eventually the friends split up, Ned and MJ going home to the left and Peter and Danny going to the tower to the right.
The air was getting colder as the October wind picked up more and more everyday, ice even forming on the edge of the sidewalk and the roads from last nights rain.
Peter held his hand on Danny's shoulder, his knuckles, nose and cheeks rosey even with his extra jacket and scarf around his neck.
"You good?" he asked, sniffing.
Danny nodded, "yeah, why?"
"Your just quiet, you were just really talkative yesterday so I thought-"
"Sorry" he blurted, used to apologizing to his parents for that kind of thing.
It put a smile on his face to how fast Peter reassured him, moving his hand down from Danny's shoulder to interlock his hand as they crossed a street.
"No no- it's fine I actually like it. I just.. Ned and MJ don't bite, you know? Well MJ does.. She will bite you." he shrugged.
"I know- I just.. I guess I like listening to you as much as you like listening to me."
Lost in conversation Danny slipped, literally.
The ice under his feet sent him flying forward, the ground grew closer as his final thought formed.
Damn, I'm really about to die twice.
He shut his eyes bracing for impact and embarrassment, feeling cold hands wrap around his waistline.
"Woah- you good? Uh again?"
Danny's face flushed as Peter picked him up under his armpits to stand him upright, it made sense Pete would be able to pick him up with ease with out strong he was.
But man, he didn't expect it.
He let out a mix of stuttered speech and laughter, "i-im good, I wasnt- I didn't see it.."
Peter laughed at him, not in a mean way, but still fueling his embarrassment.
Peter held his hand extra tight the rest of the walk, pointing at patches of ice so he could step around them.
He felt his whole body get warmer, yet the cold still gave him goosebumps.
As soon as the sliding doors shut he felt the heat on full blast, the lobby particularly empty as they decided to race each other up the stairs instead of taking the elevator.
Peter won by a landslide, waiting for Danny to catch up watching him collapse at the top and complain that it wasn't fair.
The stair doors swing open and the boys dropped their bags sitting on the couch, behind them in the kitchen Peter turned to greet a women who was so quiet Danny didn't even realize she was there.
He turned to see who it- HOLY SHIT THAT'S BLACK WIDOW. His mind raced as he sat in shocked silence watching his favorite avenger lean against the counter waiting for coffee to pour into her cup under the coffee maker.
He watched as Peter and Widow started casual conversation, Peter eagerly telling her about his day as she softly smiled.
Eventually she must have seen his dumbfounded face, because she glanced at him and actually waved.
"Hi Danny,"
Holy shit
She knows me?
I mean I hangout here a lot and I guess stark or even his parents might have told her but still- holy shit! Danny thought, he smiled and waved back nervously.
She grabbed her coffee from the machine and stirred it pouring in milk and sugar as it casted a nice smell over the whole floor.
She took a sip before turning to Peter again, "oh, no workout tomorrow I'm gonna be out with the others testing weapons in a different facility."
He works out with her!? He blinked consumed by his fanboying as Peter leaned back on the couch with a thumbs up, "that's cool, I'll find something else to do."
The room fell silent as she left, Danny remembering the one thing he forgot.
"Hey uh- I'm probably going to Coney island at some point tomorrow, you could.. You know.."
"Oh sweet, sure!" he said excited, "I haven't been there in forever."
Danny fixed the pillow behind him, joining his friend in leaning back.
"Yeah- I've never been but my friend back in Amity keeps telling me about some arcade game there," he explained.
"Apparently it's really old and there aren't any on public property anymore because rich collectors keep buyin' em and stuff."
"Awe cool, we can totally play together! wanna movie marathon after?" he asked, Danny nodded.
"Hell yeah."